After a trip to Baishawan Beach over the summer, our daughter became obsessed with the sea and kept asking us to take her back. My wife started planning another trip with her colleagues — they’d originally been looking at guesthouses near Baishawan, but somehow ended up booking YUN ESTATE HOTEL, which is nowhere near a beach. Since my wife was footing the bill, I was happy to go along.

We left after lunch at home, thinking the midday heat would keep traffic light — but the queue for Guandu Bridge ate up half an hour, and we didn’t arrive until after two in the afternoon.

The hotel looked substantial. It appeared to have been converted from a residential apartment block, which might explain why parking was surprisingly limited — just one underground level. We were lucky to arrive early enough to find a decent spot.

We checked in at the front desk, though room keys wouldn’t be available until four o’clock. In the meantime, guests were welcome to use the facilities. We headed to the ground floor (GF), where there were craft workshops and electric ride-on cars. Our daughter had zero interest in the cars — she went straight for the crafts and made a little stuffed pumpkin samurai.

From three o’clock, the ground floor started serving the hotel’s signature pearl milk tea. My wife and I each grabbed a cup and agreed it was more of a gimmick than anything to get excited about — we’d rather just buy our own.

The ground floor also had Nintendo Switch 2 consoles available to borrow.

Our daughter was far more taken with the second-floor children’s playroom. It was spacious, bright, and tidy — a genuinely welcoming space, with a wooden slide, a metal swing, plenty of wooden props for imaginative play, and a dedicated corner for children’s books.

The air conditioning was a touch weak, though. And while it was clearly designed as a shoes-off play area, no one had thought to provide a spot to leave shoes — a small but noticeable gap.

The moment four o’clock hit and we had our key cards, I went down to the car and hauled the luggage up. The room was… a genuine luxury apartment.

It felt larger than the flat we currently rent, and the layout made good use of the space. Behind the sofa was a small Japanese-style nook with a single bed — I’d planned to sleep there myself, but our daughter claimed it immediately. She lasted barely a few minutes before announcing she was scared and insisting all three of us sleep together in the main bedroom.

The balcony was generously sized — ideal for setting out a camping chair with a quiet drink in the evening, though obviously not too many drinks. The bedroom had a walk-in wardrobe; I’m not sure a short-stay guest would ever need that much storage. The bathroom featured what looked like an accessibility bath seat, and the entrance was fully step-free — purpose-designed for barrier-free access. Most of the room’s systems — curtains, lighting, air conditioning — could be controlled from a touchscreen panel beside the sofa, or by voice.

The kitchen had a Nespresso Original capsule machine. The fridge was stocked with juice, Pocari Sweat, and Coke — a generous touch.

After the kids played on the second floor until half past five, we headed to the first-floor restaurant, The Sun Table. The room rate included a dining credit, so we ordered generously. My wife and I went for a chicken broth hot pot — but after a long wait, all we’d received was a plate of vegetables. We flagged down a staff member after more than an hour, and were told we’d been served the wrong items and our chicken broth was still being prepared. They took everything back — soup base, vegetables, all of it — and didn’t bring the correct order until sometime after seven. The broth itself was exactly the kind I like, but the service was still pretty sloppy. They never returned our vegetable plate either. By that point I’d already been helping myself to bits from our friends’ dishes and was half-full, so I couldn’t be bothered to complain. Everyone else had long since finished; my wife took the kids upstairs to play, leaving me alone to work through the hot pot.

In the middle of the night, the power seemed to trip. The smart home system rebooted and all the lights came back on at once — one of the hazards of connected appliances. When I woke up the next morning, the living room air conditioner had reset to 19°C, most likely from the same restart.

For breakfast on the second morning, we ordered room service. My wife chose a Chinese set, a Japanese set, and a children’s set. The fish in the Chinese breakfast had a strong smell, and I suspected it wasn’t entirely fresh, so after one bite, I set it aside. The spread looked impressive, but it wasn’t quite to our taste.

After breakfast, the other children went back up to the second floor, while our daughter headed off for another craft session. The first one the previous day had been complimentary; this second one was chargeable. At checkout, the single lift serving the car park was completely overwhelmed, so I gave up and walked down the stairs. My overall impression of YUN ESTATE HOTEL: the ambition is unmistakable, but the execution still has rough edges — like someone in full physical health, but with slightly injured joints.

The hotel provided a day pass for the Danhai Light Rail. After checking out, my wife and the others took the children to ride it, while I stayed in the lobby and drove around to collect everyone when the time came.

We had lunch at Qiuchang Restaurant, the dining hall of the Taiwan Golf & Country Club — my first time there. Framed portraits of the club’s past presidents lined the staircase. The second was Ke Yuan-fen, one of the figures responsible for the 228 Massacre. The first was Liao Wen-yi, himself a victim of both the 228 Massacre and the White Terror. A deeply ironic pairing.

The children were fascinated by the golf equipment at the entrance and played there for a long time. On the way out, our daughter insisted on buying a second-hand golf ball for ten New Taiwan dollars.

We left the restaurant and stopped by the Starbucks Tamsui Cloud Gate branch. The weather was blazing, but the three children ran around happily all the same. The payoff: our daughter fell asleep the moment she got in the car on the way home.

Note: This article is translated from Traditional Chinese.